


Of the Universe: Infinitesimal

by Bellovebug



Category: Danny Phantom
Genre: Constellations, Danny Needs a Hug, Danny is a big nerd, Fluff, Friendship, I tagged them as a ship because even though there's no actual romance I know i, It's gay if you squint, Rated for some Foul Language™, Sad Danny, Swaggerbishie, as a swaggerbishie shipper, space, would like to read this
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-05-14
Updated: 2019-05-14
Packaged: 2020-03-04 22:48:35
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,510
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18822334
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Bellovebug/pseuds/Bellovebug
Summary: Danny Fenton has known from a young age that death is inevitable. Now, at sixteen, he knows it even better- he is half dead, after all.Danny also knows that stars turn into black holes when they die. He's felt like he's been on the way to black hole status for years now, waiting for the last of his light to die out.And then Dash Baxter infiltrates his park. And he's irritated, of course he is, but it's not so bad.It's not bad at all, actually.And suddenly, Danny realizes.He doesn't remember when he forgot that stars were supernovas before they were black holes.





	Of the Universe: Infinitesimal

For some reason, it started at the park.   
  
What is "it", you ask? Well, it's nothing really. Nothing very extravagant or extraordinary or extra-anything.   
  
"It" was something small, something that didn't matter to the world. The individuals involved didn't even know if it mattered to them.   
  
But, regardless of what it is, the park is where it started.   
  
\----------   
  
Danny Fenton had a place. It belonged to him, he thought.   
  
It was a park, with a few benches and a bathroom building. It overlooked the city, over a small ledge with a small wire fence blocking people from falling off the edge. Trees crowded around the small clearing.   
  
Luckily for him, nobody came there. That probably had something to do with how the benches were old and one average weight man from falling apart, and the bathrooms were mildly disgusting, and there were probably murderers or cult sacrifices being performed in the woods.   
  
But, also luckily for him, he didn't come for the benches, or for the bathrooms, or even for the woods.   
  
He came for the stars. He came for the silence. And, most importantly, he came for the solitude.   
  
Which is why he almost screamed when somebody climbed up the ladd

* * *

er and sat next to him on his usual perch atop the bathroom building.   
  
The person, who Danny couldn't recognize due to the  darkness of their surroundings, didn't seem to notice him there. But Danny noticed them. The light from the city below softly glowed beneath them, lighting up there face just a little bit.   
  
He had never seen anybody up here. Never. He just sat up on the small building, looking at the stars which looked down at him and the city the same. And, as far as he could tell, the other person was doing the same. And Danny did not appreciate it, because this was HIS space, HIS fucked up park, and this was HIS-   
  
"So." Danny whipped his head to the side to look at the stranger, who had turned their head to face him. "Do you come here often?"   
  
It took him a moment to place the voice, but when he figured out who it was, he wanted to throw himself off the ledge. The wire fencing wouldn't stop him, he was already half dead-   
  
"Yes," He told Dash fucking Baxter. Dash hmmed and looked back to the sky. Danny was mildly afraid Dash would throw him off the building himself, but Dash hadn't really messed with him since freshman year. Regardless, Dash didn't seem to mind him being there at all, so Danny turned back to the overlook.   
  
Surprisingly, Danny found he didn't mind Dash being there that much. He wasn't talking, and he wasn't being obtrusive, and he wasn't even looking at him. So Danny tried to do him the same favor, and tilted his head back to look at the stars like he usually did.   
  
Danny didn't exactly enjoy Dash being there, but when he heard him climb down the rickety ladder and start up his car an hour or two later, he found that the space felt strangely empty after he was gone.   
  
\-------   
  
Unsurprisingly, nothing changed after that.   
  
Dash didn't suddenly turn into a dick again, nor did he suddenly become Danny's friend (not that he expected him to do either of those things).   
  
Dash continued to ignore him, so Danny ignored him back.   
  
The next time he went to his park, Dash did not make an appearance. Nor did he the time after that.   
  
But the time after those, Danny was both surprised and unsurprised to see Dash already sitting there when he arrived.   
  
He laid down his blanket, and sat down. Dash didn't speak, and didn't look at him, so Danny didn't look at him either.   
  
Maybe an hour passed, Danny getting lost in the stars and the lights in the city. He actually mostly forgot that Dash was even there; but when he looked over, Dash had his eyes closed. The light below lit up his eye lids and Danny had never seen him look so peaceful, without a speck of anger or determination or frustration.   
  
"Do you come here often?" He found himself asking. Dash's eyes fluttered open, turning his head to look at him.   
  
"Yeah." Dash turned back towards the city, so Danny did the same. But something was bothering him- did Dash mind him being here? He kind of minded Dash being here. But not really. But he did? No, he didn't. Maybe, if Dash didn't want him there, they could work out a schedule or something.   
  
His mouth was clearly running ahead of him at the time, because before he had really thought it through, he blurted, "Do- do you mind me being here?"   
  
He braced, waiting for the inevitable "yes, I absolutely do, your presence is a burden", but it didn't come.   
  
In fact, it had been 3 minutes, and nothing came.   
  
He probably hadn't heard him. That was fine- it was a stupid question anyways. Probably better that he didn't hear, right?   
  
Danny ducked his head down, glad that Dash didn't spare him a glance.   
  
It took a couple minutes, but eventually, his tensed shoulders relaxed. Thankfully, the night wasn't too cloudy, and allowed him to get lost in the stars again.   
  
He swung his legs over the edge of the building, and his heels smacked against the side. He winced.   
  
He was busy staring at a light in the distance that kept blinking when Dash spoke.   
  
"No. I don't." Danny was mildly shellshocked, just enough to keep him from responding, as Dash got up, taking his bag with him. Before he began the climb down the ladder, Dash looked at him, and Danny saw no trace of malice in his eyes when he said, "And I hope you don't mind me."   
  
Danny's jaw would've dropped if he wasn't grinding his teeth together.   
  
This was not normal behavior.   
  
The Dash Baxter he knew would never pay any regard to his feelings.   
  
But, then again... He didn't really know Dash Baxter, did he? Not since freshman year. Not since two years ago. Two years is a long time to change, and clearly Dash didn't care enough to mess with him, so who could say what else had changed?   
  
Dash was already in his car with the engine rumbling when Danny snapped out of it.   
  
"I don't!" He called out over the edge of the building, away from the overlook towards Dash's car. Dash leaned his head out the window, looking at him. "Mind you- you being here, that is!"   
  
He expected Dash to roll his window up, drive away, give him a thumbs up, tell him to fuck off or something. Instead, Dash yelled, "I'm glad!"   
  
Well, Danny was glad he was glad, he guessed.   
  
\---------   
  
Danny was tired.   
  
Exhausted, really.   
  
And while, yes, his eyeballs felt like bowling balls and he felt like he was dragging his body behind him when he walked... The exhaustion was not physical.   
  
He sat on top of the building at the park, and he stared desperately at the stars. He didn't know what he thought he'd find there, but all he could see was the same old constellations.   
  
Dash sat several feet away from him, but for once, Danny couldn't care less.   
  
Because Danny had never felt more tired.   
  
In recent years, the ghost activity had gone down. When he was fourteen, it seemed there was some new ghost crisis every other week- Skulker had broken out, Technus had gotten some new weapon, the Box Ghost decided he was gonna take another crack at world domination. It was always something.   
  
But, now... His usual opponents were just ectos, just mere smears of fluorescent green. Sure, a stronger ghost would come up every few weeks, but.... The ghost world seemed to be sleeping for the time being. Everything seemed to be sleeping.   
  
His normal days lulled and drifted by, nothing with enough texture to latch onto to help pull himself forward. He was left floating, forced to let the current of the day carry him.   
  
And sometimes, that current was flat. Sometimes he felt like he went about his day just... Existing. Not really doing anything. Doing the bare minimum to get by, just enough so that his parents wouldn't confront him about his grades, just enough so that Tucker and Sam wouldn't get worried, just enough so that ghosts didn't overrun the entire town.   
  
Danny was just enough and nothing more, except for tired.   
  
But, sometimes, the day's current was a tidal wave, the ocean during a storm. Waves crashed and thunder boomed, and Danny wasn't that good a swimmer. Sometimes, he was dragged under.   
  
Sometimes, he got upset. Upset like he was then. Sometimes he cried. Sometimes he hated himself. Most of the time he hated himself. Sometimes he didn't do his homework. Sometimes he had nightmares. Sometimes he didn't sleep. Sometimes he couldn't bring himself to get up in the morning. Sometimes...   
  
These were all things that happened on tidal wave days.   
  
And sometimes, he gets his grade back on his chemistry test, and he had just gotten that class's grade up to an A the week before, and he had stayed up the night before to deal with a pack of ectos, and he gets a 68% on the test, and he'd thought he was going to do good, and he cries in the middle of the classroom, and he runs into the bathroom to sit on the floor and cry.   
  
Well, okay, so... That was just today. But the point still stands.   
  
Danny was ashamed to say that he could feel tears behind his eyes as he looked up at the stars. He laid down on his back, and the lights from the city were a faded blur on the edges of his vision. The stars were brighter like this, and if he paid enough attention, he could see lines connecting them, showing him Cassiopeia, Orion's belt,  the Teapot. He could even see the Milky Way, faintly, a slightly different shade of black between the stars.   
  
"What are you thinking about?"   
  
Danny jumped, and only then did he notice Dash's eyes trained on him.   
  
"Um... Just the stars." Luckily, his voice was stable. He was glad it was dark, and Dash couldn't see how he was that close to breaking open like a dam. Dash was civil now, but who could say what he would do if he saw Danny Fenton burst into tears on top of an abandoned park bathroom?   
  
He and Dash held eye contact, before they both turned their attention back the sky above.   
  
"Me too," Dash replied. "It's kind of, like, the best part about being up here."   
  
Danny cracked a small smile, letting out a watery laugh. "I agree." He looked over at Dash, who had laid down too. He felt kind of bad- he always brought a blanket to lay on, but Dash was laying on the bare concrete. "What's your favorite?"   
  
"Favorite what?" Dash asked.   
  
"Ya know, what's your favorite constellation?" Danny sat up, propping himself up with his arms   
  
"I... Don't have one." Dash looked away from him again, but Danny kept his eyes on Dash's face. "I don't know many. I only know, like, the Big Dipper, and the one that looks like a 'W'."   
  
"Cassiopeia," Danny corrected absently. "If... um." He hesitated, not knowing how Dash would react if he asked.   
  
"What?"   
  
"I-I could show you some. If you want. I'm kind of a, a big star nerd-" Danny was kind of glad Dash interrupted him, because who knew how long Danny would have nervously rambled.   
  
"I know." What did that even mean?   
  
"Wh- what?"   
  
"Everyone knows how much you love stars," Dash began, and his voice didn't hold any malice or teasing. "You own, like, a whole closet of NASA merch, and I've seen you give three separate presentations on space."   
  
"Well, science-"   
  
"One of them was in English class." Dash still didn't sound like he was making fun of him- at worst mild teasing- and Danny didn't think he was, but... He supposed his 9th grade self still lingered in him somewhere, because his gut told him not to argue, not to offer again, because the more intel they have on you the more they can use against you.   
  
Maybe that lesson didn't just apply to his 9th grade self.   
  
"Um..." He decided to just let it pass. "Okay."   
  
"But yeah." Dash must have sensed that he was getting uncomfortable with the conversation. "That would be really cool, if you... Taught me about the constellations."   
  
Danny didn't realize he had been holding his breath until he let it out in a sigh.   
  
"Okay. Yeah." He took a deep breath, tilting his head to look at the sky. "You can sit on the blanket, if you want."   
  
"Yeah, thanks." Danny scoot over to the edge of the blanket and Dash relocated himself next to him.   
  
Dash looked at him expectantly, and he didn't know how to begin.   
  
"What... What do you want me to tell you about?" He asked.   
  
"Tell me about the ones you know," Dash said, more patient than Danny would expect.   
  
"That's, like, really broad."   
  
"Then tell me about the ones we can see." That was also very broad, but Dash was trying, and Danny appreciated that.   
  
"So, up by that tree? That's the big 'W', Cassiopeia." He leaned in, pointing towards said tree. Dash leaned in, too, gaze following his hand, eyes straining to see the tiny dots.   
  
"Wait, where did you say?" Dash asked. "Oh, nevermind, I found it!"   
  
Danny smiled at his enthusiasm. "It's actually not supposed to be a 'W'- it's supposed to be a throne. It's kind of hard to see, but if you tilt your head like this..."   
  
It was hard to believe, but Danny felt the ache in his chest lessening, the longer he talked. He felt like he was talking too much, but Dash never told him to stop, and so he didn't.   
  
He found that he could lose himself in talking about the stars easier than he thought he could. He thought he'd lost that passion for talking about it, always choosing to hold it in his chest. Not many people were willing to sit and listen to some nerd ramble on about constellations and their origins.   
  
But, to his surprise, Dash didn't get bored. Didn't tell him to stop rambling, or tell him he was weird for knowing so much, or anything. He asked questions, and Danny answered them. He told Dash about constellations and their stars, told him about Pisces, Corona Borealis, Orion, Ursa Major, Gemini, Andromeda, Delphinus...   
  
"What's your favorite?" Dash asked. They had been sitting at the park for at least an hour now, including the time they spent sitting in silence, and they had both laid down in their backs to better see the stars. Surprisingly, Danny didn't feel tired. The permanent exhaustion that followed him had subsided for the time being, and he could feel the cold ground from beneath the blanket, feel the chilling air on his skin. He could see every star in detail, the colors of the galaxy alive, no matter how faintly they appear. He could hear his heartbeat in his head, and he was alive.   
  
"Oh. Um, that's kind of hard to decide..." He wracked his brain, trying to make a decision as Dash looked at him. "...Probably Cygnus. No! No, I like Lyra better. The myth behind Cygnus is kinda weird. So yeah. Definitely Lyra."   
  
"Where's that one?"   
  
"It's really small. It's up past the corner of that tree- actually, it's easier to find Cygnus first." He raised his arm, pointing to the head, formed by the star Albireo. "See that line, there, and how it's kind of got wings?"   
  
"Yeah."   
  
"Down by that end- that's the tail."   
  
"To the left?"   
  
"No, the other way, towards the head- yeah. Yes." He traced Cygnus, his eyes running down its spine, seeking out the familiar star Vega. "You see kind of down to the right, there's like a little trapezoid? And then right on the corner there's a triangle?"   
  
"Oh, yeah."   
  
"That's Lyra." He focused on the shape, his eyes eventually wandering back to Vega and her story.   
  
Silence settled for a couple seconds, and Danny breathed.   
  
Dash turned his head, and Danny could feel him looking at him even though it was too dark to actually see. "Why do you like that one so much?"   
  
Why did he like Lyra so much?"I- I dunno. I like the myth, mostly." For as long as he could remember, he was in love with Lyra, and the story of Orphues and Eurydice, as much as he loved the story of Vega and Altair.   
  
"Tell me about it."   
  
So, he did. He told Dash first about Vega and Altair, about how Vega was a goddess, who fell in love with the mortal Altair. Banned from uniting, seperated by the Milky Way, they could only see each other once a year, when the "magpies" of Cygnus formed a bridge.   
  
But, more importantly, he told him the story of Orpheus, and his harp which charmed the ears of all existing beings, dead and alive. He told him of Orpheus's love with Eurydice, and he spoke of her death. He spoke of Orpheus's journey to the underworld, where his mournful song convinced Hades to free Eurydice. He told him of Orpheus's failure to save her, turning around on the way out of the caves when Hades had forbade him of doing so. He told him of Orpheus's wish to be killed, and his death afterwards.   
  
"...Wow. That's kind of intense."   
  
"Yeah."   
  
"But... Super cool." He smiled, and he saw Dash return his grin, even in the dark.   
  
They went silent after that, both of them lost in thought, staring into the universe.   
  
It had to have been three on the morning by the time Dash got up to leave. He didn't say anything as he climbed down the ladder, and neither did Danny.   
  
Neither of them said anything until Dash was about to open his door.   
  
"Goodnight!" He called.    
  
Danny looked down at him, calling back, "Goodnight!"   
  
"Get some sleep, alright?" Dash called back. Danny nodded, but...   
  
He couldn't remember a time he felt less tired.   
  
\------   
  
Things didn't change.   
  
Well... They didn't change that much.   
  
Really, the only thing was Sam and Tucker asking why Dash had smiled and waved at him in the hallways.   
  
He asked himself why he smiled and waved back.   
  
But regardless of their newfound friendliness, they still didn't talk outside of their nights in the park.   
  
But maybe... Maybe that could change.   
  
Danny wasn't sure if he wanted it to.   
  
But he knew he didn't hate the idea.   
  
He also didn't know how it had happened, but the next time they met at the park, they talked like they had been friends for years.   
  
Before he knew it, they were trading stories, laughing and smiling, and Danny suddenly realized that he knew a lot more about Dash Baxter then he thought he did.   
  
By the time they were both heading home, his stomach hurt from laughter, and he couldn't remember the last time he had felt that way.   
  
Dash was laughing at a story he had just finished, and clicked the button on his key fob to unlock his car.   
  
"Next time you want a coffee that bad, just text me, alright? My brother works at Starbucks, I could probably get you a gift card or something."   
  
The conversation was so normal it almost hurt. It was the most normal thing Danny had done in a long time, and somehow it still felt surreal.   
  
"I would, but I don't have your number."   
  
He didn't realize the implications of that before it was too late.   
  
"Then give me your number, Fenton." Dash looked at him, a smile on his face, and Danny felt one on his too.   
  
Before he even thought about it, he blurted, "Call me Danny."   
  
For a moment, Dash looked surprised, but the expression slipped off his face like water off a duck's back.   
  
"Okay then, Danny, I still want your number." Dash had pulled his phone out, and handed it to Danny. Looking down, Danny saw a new contact being created, and entered his number.   
  
He saw the empty contact name, and his twelve year old boy kicked in.   
  
He exited the contact and handed Dash his phone, quickly giving Dash his phone for him to do the same.   
  
They big each other farewell, and they drove home.   
  
Dash Baxter arrived home that night, and he put sweatpants on. He slipped into his bed, and he picked up his phone.   
  
He has one new notification.   
  
It's a text.   
  
LYRA 1:27AM   
So, what part of the solar system do you want to learn about next?   
  
He rolled his eyes at the contact name, but quickly typed back.   


ME 1:32AM   
How about the entire universe?


End file.
